Lake County Ohio GenWeb

Madison Historical Sketches

 The following is from the Geneva Times in three chapters on Thursdays January 13, 20, and 27, 1878. The articles were found at Geneva Library.

Select Miscellany.
MADISON.
Historical Sketches of the Township from Its Settlement to the Present time.
Chapter I.

Prefatory note.–The writing of a series of historical articles descriptive of the settlement and progressive growth of Madison was an afterthought with the writer. Some two months since we visited the town with a copy of a muster roll of a military company in the war of 1812 to learn the subsequent history of a number on the roll who were residents of that township, when they enlisted. While prosecuting our inquiries, aided by William Henry, Esq., of the village of Madison, who loves to recount incidents of the olden time, and who possesses a store of local historical knowledge of men and things, we became interested in his recitals and the idea of preparing a series of articles on Madison came to our mind. The idea was seconded by our excellent friend, and we began to collect items and incidents from different sources in furtherance of our plan. The task has been thus far a difficult one. There is but little recorded. The pioneers are nearly all gone. Some who remain are weighed down by the infirmities of age. Even their immediate descendants in some instances recall the incidents of the years long past but feebly. Tradition has mainly preserved the story of the past in Madison. It is not possible to present events in their order of occurrence, and therefore these articles will be of a fragmentary nature - something like the familiar, random talk of those who sit down to a review, each detailing his thoughts as they light here and there on the pages of the past. Some who read may discover discrepancies in statements, and errors in dates. It is expected. Yet, it is hoped that the greatest possible accuracy, under the circumstances, will be observed. We invite all to contribute anything of interest bearing upon the subject in hand, which they may have, and make such suggestions and corrections as they deem proper. We earnestly invite the co-operation of the older residents of Madison in our task, that they may have something when the sketches are completed, worthy of preservation. ED. TIMES.

Previous to the year 1798 Northern Ohio was substantially as it was “In the beginning.” The territory now set off by metes and bounds and called “Madison” was a part of the vast wilderness that made the beauty and the solitude of all the region lying along the south shore of Lake Erie. It was a part of the county of Trumbull - a county that originally embraced what is now several counties of the Western Reserve, lying in North-eastern Ohio. Afterwards, about the year 1809, Trumbull county was sub-divided, and among the new counties formed was Geauga. In the year 1811 the Commissioners of Geauga county directed that “so much of that part of Harpersfield as lies in the county of Geauga, and is included in township number twelve, and all that part of township Number eleven which lies north of Grand River in the sixth range of the original surveyed township, be and the same is hereby incorporated and erected into a separate township, by the name of Madison,” etc. Up to this time the territory described had been called “Chapin.” Under this organization and within these territorial limits the township existed for near thirty years, when in 1840-41, Geauga county was divided, and the present county of Lake formed. At that time the township of Willoughby was added to Lake, from Cuyahoga, and Madison township was enlarged by adding to it “Thompson Gore,” so called, thus making the south line of the township the line of the original survey of Township No. 11. Madison is constituted of two townships, No. 11 and No. 12, the last named being the “Gore” township, lying upon the lake. The boundaries of Madison are - east by Geneva and Harpersfield in Ashtabula county, south by Thompson, west by LeRoy and Perry, and north by Lake Erie. It is about nine miles on the east line from north to south, about eight miles from north to south on the west line, and five miles from east to west. It contains nearly fifty square miles an area almost equal to some of the petty Dukedoms of the Old World.

TOPOGRAPHY, SOIL AND PRODUCTS.

A marked feature of the region for a few miles back from the lake through much of Ohio is what is known as the “Ridges.” These in Madison are sharply defined, running through the township about parallel with the shore line of the lake, east and west, and are continuous, with but slight depressions or elevations. They are known as the North, South and Middle Ridges. The first named is from three to four miles from the lake. The second, parallell [sic] with it, from four to five miles from the lake, while the third named is about midway between the two, on an average. There is still another ridge, south of the South Ridge about one half mile, sometimes called the “Fourth Ridge.” It is well defined through the township, but is broken, and constitutes the dividing line for the waters, which run from it to lake and river. From the North Ridge to the South, except the slight elevation of the Middle Ridge, the surface is level. From the South Ridge the face of the country changes into gentle, rolling hills, and becomes quite picturesque in the region of Grand River with deep ravines, and broken river banks. Grand River is the principal stream, coursing diagonally through the southern part in a northwesternly direction to Lake Erie at Fairport in Lake county. Cunningham Creek rises in springs in the high lands of Harpersfield and Madison, crosses the South Ridge near the old Frisbie homestead and finds its way to the lake in the eastern part of the township at a point famous in early times as the site of Madison Dock. There is another small stream which rises in springs in the Fourth Ridge, south of Madison village, and empties into the lake near the northwest corner of the township. It is a beautiful brook, but is not dignified by a name that we have been able to learn. Although lacking in streams of imposing size, the township is coursed with spring rivulets, of pure water, while springs are numerous, and water of the softest, sweetest and purest kind is found at moderate depths wherever wells are sunk. No tract on the Reserve is blest with better water than is Madison.

The soil is quite diversified, but usually good, while much is of surpassing fertility. From the lake to the Fourth Ridge a gravelly loam is found. The south part of the township affords an admixture of clay, loam and gravel. There is really no waste land to speak of in the entire township - that formerly regarded as waste having been reclaimed by judicious draining. The township is in a high state of cultivation and has been for some years. The farms and buildings have the appearance of thrift and of being occupied by a people of cultivation and intelligence.

The township produces the standard cereals to make a rich return for judicious husbandry, but corn thrives exceeding well in its warm, gravelly soil, and vegetables of all kinds, common to the climate, grow rapidly and to great perfection. Lake county has long been characterized as the “Ireland of America”, for the excellence and abundance of its potatoes, and Madison is well entitled to stand as the “Ireland” of Lake county, in consideration of its vast contributions to the potato fund of the county. This crop in years past has added much to the material wealth of the people. For some years past onion culture has also been made a specialty - much of the soil having been found peculiarly adapted to the raising of this odorous vegetable. As a fruit section the township has long enjoyed a first-class reputation. Much attention has been given to its culture and improvement. The apple trees planted by the pioneers have long since ceased to bear inferior seedlings, owing to the skill of the ingrafter and the application of pruning knife. Madison horticulturists have for years been east, south and west, with scions from their stately apple orchards, and the part she has contributed towards improving this standard fruit in various sections of the country is incalculable. Of late years the people have been turning their attention quite largely to the cultivation of small fruits, and have met with gratifying success, and a ready, remunerative market. Mr. D. Lee, of the Jefferson Gazette, is now engaged quite extensively in the small fruit line, on his place in this town.

Some notice of the physical changes Madison has undergone since its first settlement will make a fitting conclusion to this opening chapter. The entire section was covered with the heaviest kind of timber, supplemented generally by a jungle of undergrowth. For miles the sun’s rays hardly touched the earth when the leaves were out. It was indeed a “boundless contiguity of shade” - a land of silence - broken only by the winds - the fall of some old tree, sere and moss-grown by age - the chirp of bird, the howling of beasts, or the whoop of the native red man. But few sections of the wide domain of the Union were as abundantly supplied with most kinds of timber common to this country as was Northern Ohio, and Madison was no exception. Chestnut, white-wood, oak, black and white ash, cucumber, elm, basswood, hickory, black walnut, butternut, beech and maple grew everywhere, while hemlocks were common in certain sections, and even the pine had strayed from its natural borders and found root in Madison soil. In these vast forests of choice timber there was a mine of wealth, but the pioneers could not wait to turn it into gold. The axe was laid at the root of the trees and they were literally hewn down and cast into the fire. Their present necessities required the use of the fallow ground to raise the necessaries of life. The warfare upon the woods was continuous and unrelenting, and while the labor was excessive the woods disappeared rapidly after the tide of immigration had fairly set in. What the appearance of the face of the country was then is a fast fading picture on the minds of the few remaining pioneers. What the physical condition of the township now is, is written in her diminished forests and fruitful fields.

Originally the section between the lake and the South Ridge was for a greater part of the year covered with water to a considerable extent. The ridges and higher points only were free from water during the year. The clearing away of the forests, laying the drenched earth bare to the action of the sun, and surface drainage have changed the ancient condition of the surface to its present cheerful aspect.

The condition and appearance of the lake shore in early days is within the memory of a number of the older citizens of the town. The land sloped down with an easy grade to level bottoms, and these to a broad, shining beach of white sand upon which the clear waters of the lake washed, but did not touch the soil. By the encroachment of the water the broad beach of bottom lands have disappeared in many places, and the insatiate waves have dashed into many fields, and carried away acres of valuable land, completely changing the primitive make and appearance of the water-front of the township. When first settled, in common with all this section, the people were subject to fevers and agues, and other malarial disorders, owing as was supposed to vast quantities of surface water exposed to evaporation, and the decay of vegetable matter in the great forests. These troubles gradually disappeared as the lands were reclaimed and the children of the pioneers grew up hale and healthy. The township is now noted as possessing all the requisite conditions of health - thorough drainage, pure water, and an altitude above the lake level not common to all the towns of the lake border.

                        Continued next week.

Select Miscellany.
MADISON.
Historical Sketches of the Township from Its Settlement to the Present time.
THE PIONEERS
CHAPTER II.

Time runs his ceaseless round - the men or yore
Who danced our infancy upon their knee,
And told our wondering childhood legends store
Of their strange ventures, happ’d by land and sea.
How are they blotted from the things that be!

The story of a country is best told in the history of its pioneers - its most active, prominent men, those who mold its institutions and give tone to its society. Our task would be incomplete - our story without a proper beginning did we fail to notice in the outset that grand old hero, Col. Alexander Harper, for he belonged to Madison as well as to any other section of the great town of Richfield, as all this country was called when he led his little colony into it.

Col. Alex. Harper was born in Middletown, Conn., in the year 1744, and removed to Cherry Valley in the State of New York in the year 1754, where he resided until the year 1770, when he took a patent of a large tract of land and removed to Delaware county, that State, town of Harpersfield, so-called as he was a pioneer there. Col. Harper was caught in his new home by the great event of the Revolution, even beyond the frontier settlements of the time. His was really an advance post on the border, and during the Revolution, at the head of a company of scouts, as a Captain, he was continually engaged in perilous enterprises and border warfare. In the spring of 1780, he with many others was captured by a party of British, Indians and Tories under lead of the notorious Capt. Brandt, taken to Canada, and after a captivity of some two years, was exchanged and returned to his family, and resumed life on the estate from which he had been driven, for many years. Here he remained till the year 1797, when he exchanged his property in Delaware county with Oliver Phelps and Gideon Granger for lands in the Connecticut Western Reserve. On the seventh of March, 1798, he with his family, consisting of a wife and seven children, together with two of his neighbors - Wm. McFarland and Ezra Gregory, with their families - some twenty-three persons in all, but mostly minors, left Delaware county for Ohio, making a perilous journey through the wilds of the State to Lake Erie. Procuring a small schooner the party embarked in it and spread sail up the lake, making land at the mouth of what is now known as Cunningham Creek, in Madison. Taking their way back through the woods, guided in their course by the little stream, they halted on the 28^th day of June, 1798, at a point north of Unionville some three-fourths of a mile, and near the present residence of Mr. W. E. Hulett - the old Dea. Cunningham farm, in Madison. There was no county-line road then - no Madison, Geneva or Harpersfield - nothing but the great woods, lying in common, waiting the coming of the pioneers. Col. Harper and party here proceeded to build a habitation, of a temporary nature. They selected for the site of a present home, a tree of gigantic growth - making it a lodge pole for their wigwam, which was constructed around it with bark peeled from the trees. This bark house was indeed a roomy affair, and is said to have been sub-divided into a dozen or more rooms, by suspending blankets through it. Just where this historic tree stood is in some measure a matter of tradition. But without doubt it was not far from the present county-line road, very near the terminus of the Middle Ridge road upon it, and some say it stood about the center of the present county-line road. In this rude cabin they remained for a time, and until they could provide themselves, or each of said families, with a log house, on their separate lands as located by them in the present township of Harpersfield. Col. Harper’s colony was still in their bark shanty when the fourth day of July, 1798 approached, and he was not the man to let it pass without suitable observance. The memory of his struggles and privations to secure the independence of his country was still fresh and vivid. He determined to usher in the day with a grand Federal salute, and decided, in the absence of the noisy cannon, to make some of the great forest trees speak for him. On the evening of July 3d, thirteen of the largest tees near by were chopped nearly off the stump; on the morning of the 4^th the task was completed, and one after another, at regular intervals, these giants of the woods thundered to the earth, waking the echoes for miles around. After a time the three families vacated their bark abode, and went to their respective locations. Col. Harper deeded from his lot the burying ground in Unionville, and was himself the first to be interred in it. He died on the tenth day of September, 1798, and they placed his remains in a coffin fashioned from a forest tree, and laid them away in his forest grave, amid the deepest sorrow. His place of burial [is] marked by a stone with suitable inscriptions. It is a pilgrim shrine amid the many pioneer mounds of his ancient abode of the dead.

JOHN A. HARPER

This distinguished pioneer was the oldest son of Col. Alexander Harper, before mentioned, and was born at Harpersfield, in the State of New York, on the 30^th day of March, 1771. His mother’s name, prior to her marriage with Col. Harper, was Elizabeth Bartholomew. John A. was the oldest of five sons of the said Alexander and Elizabeth Harper. The other four were named, respectively, James, William, Alexander and Robert. Col. Alexander Harper also had three daughters - Margaret, Elizabeth and Mary, who were intermarried with the following named persons, viz.: Margaret became the wife of Aaron Wheeler before removing from the State of New York; Elizabeth was married to Judge Abraham Tappen, and Mary, the youngest, was married to Adnah Cowles. John A. Harper being a young man when his father removed to Ohio, continued t reside with the family until his marriage in December, 1892. But prior to the time of his marriage, he had purchased about one hundred acres of land within the present boundaries of the township of Madison, it being the same farm occupied for many years by Hon. A. Tappen, west of Unionville, and now owned and occupied by Stephen Warner, Esq. On this farm John A. Harper commenced an improvement as early as the year 1800 or 1801, for sometime prior to his marriage in 1802 he had built a house on the land which stood on the north side of the road and a little west of the present residence of Stephen Warner, where he commenced housekeeping after his marriage, and where his oldest son, Hon. Rice Harper, of Sandusky, Ohio, was born, in November, 1803. These things without doubt establish the fact that John A. Harper was the first actual settler in the present limits of Madison. He resided on this first farm a few years and then sold it to Judge Tappen, and moved to another about a mile and a half northwest of Unionville on the Middle Ridge road, purchased of a man named James Thompson, but soon sold it out to a Mr. Bartram, and purchased the farm on which the Lake Shore railroad depot is built, now owned by Mr. Geo. Hulett. He continued to reside on this farm until the year 1815, when he removed from the township to a place on the North Ridge road in Perry, in which township he continued to reside until his decease, which occurred on the 30^th of October, 1811. Of his children, the oldest, Hon. Rice Harper, before mentioned, lives in Sandusky, and A. J. Harper, Esq., the youngest, lives in Harpersfield. Of the other children we have no knowledge. John A. Harper, it is believed, was the first person who held a civil office within the territory now constituting the township of Madison. He was appointed to the office of constable by the court then sitting in Warren or Youngstown, under the authority of the Territorial government, prior to the organization of the State government, and soon after the State government was organized, he was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace; and on the organization of Geauga county, he was elected one of the County Commissioners. He generally held one or more civil offices in Madison during the time he was a resident, and always discharged the duties of every office entrusted to him in a very creditable manner to himself and satisfactory to the public.

JAMES THOMPSON

It is thought that the next settler in Madison after Harper, was a man named James Thompson, who located a farm on the Middle Ridge, near the creek. He is credited with raising the first wheat ever grown in Madison, on this farm. The farm was bought afterwards by Harper and then by one Bartram, and long in possession of the “Bartram” family and perhaps so at the present time. Of the history of Thompson, after he sold to Harper, we find nothing. Our informant, Hon. Rice Harper, mentions the names of two other men who settled in Madison soon after his father -

IRA BLANCHARD AND THEODORE ROYCE,

but which of the two should rank next after Thompson he is not certain, neither is he absolutely certain but one of the two should rank second in the settlement. He is quite certain that the three mentioned were the first settlers after his father. Blanchard and Royce both settled on the road west of John A. Harper’s place, - Blanchard on lands afterwards owned by Phineas Mixer, Sen. Blanchard built the tavern afterwards kept by Mixer, and died in 1810. No further record appears of Theodore Royce, but is hoped that some of our readers may give us further information of him.

ABRAHAM TAPPEN.

This prominent man in the early days of what is now Madison, first came to the Western Reserve in company with Judge Walworth, who first resided for a time in the township of Painesville, on what was afterwards known as the “Governor Huntington” farm, on the river below the village, sometime about the year 1801 or 1802, from the State of New York. Judge Walworth with his family, after a year or two, removed to Cleveland, and Abraham Tappen, and a man named Sessions, who then resided in Painesville, made a contract with the Connecticut Land Company, to survey the lands of said Company lying west of the Cuyahoga river, in the Connecticut Western Reserve, into townships, and Tappen and James A. Harper, as surveyors, entered upon their labors of surveying the lands, under said contract, in the year 1806, finishing the work, as is thought, the year following. Tappen took up his residence in what is now Madison about the year 1804 or 1805, at which time he married Miss Elizabeth Harper, daughter of Colonel Alexander Harper, and purchased of John A. Harper the farm before mentioned as the first settled in the township, and occupied by him for many years after. Abraham Tappen was one of the first Associate Judges for the county of Geauga and was subsequently appointed postmaster at Unionville, and served in that capacity for a long time. He discharged all the duties as a Judge, and postmaster, and of several other public offices to which he was chosen, with fidelity to the public and credit to himself. Judge Tappen continued to reside near Unionville, in Madison, from the time of his marriage until after the year 1852, when he removed to Woodstock, McHenry Co. Illinois, where both himself and wife died soon after. He had children, one or more of whom preceded him in Woodstock, where he and his wife went for a new home.

HON. SAMUEL WHEELER

This eminent man of his time was a grandson of Col. Alexander Harper, the pioneer of 1798. He studied the profession of the law, and after admission to the Bar, settled at Unionville in its practice. He rose rapidly in his profession and in a brief time had acquired an enviable reputation as a lawyer and public speaker. He also filled several public offices with great credit to himself and the entire satisfaction of his constituents. He was several times elected a member of the Legislature of Ohio, and at one session, he being at the time a member of the Senate, was chosen Speaker of the Senate. He died November 8^th, 1831, at his home in Unionville, in the 40^th year of his age, and before his fine powers were yet fully developed. At the time of his death he was a nominee for Governor of the State. In one sense he belonged to Madison, but in a broader sense he was the property of the whole State, which was honored by him.

Continued next week.

Select Miscellany.
MADISON.
Historical Sketches of the Township from Its Settlement to the Present Time.
Chapter III.
The Pioneers.

The period embraced in this chapter, and the two preceeding ones, as also to be covered by one or two succeeding ones, is from the coming of the HARPER family in 1798 to the beginning of the year 1810. It will be our purpose to give all the inforamtion attainable of each and every family settling in the present township of Madiosn within the dates named. The preceding chapter contained notices of a few of the earliest pioneers, and htis chapter will be a continuation of personal reminiscences, and traditions.

JAIRUS T. ANDREWS.

The date of the coming of this pioneer to Madison is not known, but is stated about the year 1805. His name is found among the earlier records of the settlement, and he must stand among the first. He located on the South Ridge, west of Unionville, on the south side, it being the farm now owned by George Fisher. His trade was that of a tailor, but it is presumed, considering the number of people to be clothed, and the scarcity of cloth, that he was not badly driven with work in his line. His attack on the tall timber around his cabin with shears, bodkin and yardstick, was not very effective, and the coming down from fine cloth, such as he had been in the habit of working in the east, to “pepper and salt” and buckskin, is supposed to have been too much for a workman of fine taste. At least, he left his farm at an early day, removed to Euclid village and there set up his business. His death occurred at that place a number of years ago. He had one son, Augustus, who moved to the west after the family settled in Euclid, and one daughter, who married a gentleman by the name of Dilley and when last known resided in Euclid. It was on the farm of Jairus T. Andrews, on a point of land back of George Fisher’s present residence, that the first gospel sermon in Madison was preached, by Rev. Giles H. Cowles, of Austinburg, in June, 1813. The few pioneers of the time were of good Puritan stock, and would welcome a minister gladly, but just then there was a sharp contest between politics and religion, it being in the midst of the war of 1812, and some of the residents of Madison refused to listen to the sermon of the reverend gentleman because he was a Federalist!

PHINEAS MIXER, SEN.

This sturdy pioneer came to Madison on the 24^th day of January, 1805, from Norwich, Mass., and settled on a tract of six hundred acres now North Madison. That part of the tract upon which Mr. Mixer located his home is now the fine farm of Mr. Flowers. It was mid-winter when Mr. Mixer reached his wilderness home, and the snow lay deep upon the ground. It had been arranged by him to have a home built and in readiness on his arrival, but for some reason the job was not completed. On reaching the location he found a partially built log cabin. The walls were up, but there was no roof on it! It was terribly cold, and the situation was a trying one. Not only himself and family were there without shelter, but his stock had been driven in, and were exposed to the chill air. But Mr. Mixer was a brave hearted man, and met the emergency by the aid of his resolute wife, sons and daughters, like a true frontiersman. Temporary shelters were made, and by and by six miles away, his log cabin was covered, and soon put in snug shape for the family to occupy. It is judged that Mr. Mixer was a man of unusual size from the following incident related in the hearing of the writer, many years ago, by his father, the late Harvey S. Spencer, of Geneva. About the year 1809 or 1810, Mr. Spencer was chopping in the woods one day on the lake shore, in the northeast corner of Geneva, when on looking up from the log he was chopping he saw an Indian standing before him, who had come up with the stealthy, noiseless tread peculiar to his race. The Indian saluted in a friendly manner, and at once began by grunts, signs and gesticulations to make his wants known, whatever they were. Mr. Spencer gathered that the Indian was trying to get the location of some white man in the country, but who, or in what direction he could not understand. The Indian perceived this and changed his tactics. Putting his hands together under his chin, he swept them out and downward to his hips, in a semi-circle, throwing them out sideways with another motion to indicate breadth. This told the who story without words. Mr. Spencer pronounced the name of “Mixer,” and the Indian grunted with delight. He was taken to the beach, and Mr. Spencer marked out the successive streams to be passed, making a wigwam in the sand just beyond the mouth of Cunningham Creek. The Indian was now thoroughly posted, and started up the beach of the lake on a lope. In the year 1811 Mr. Mixer removed to the South Ridge and took the log tavern west of the present Unionville, what advanced in life when he came to this country, and died at his home west of Unionville not many years after his taking possession. He was a man of great force of character and took an active part in the welfare and improvement of his adopted township.

The five children of Mr. Mixer - two sons and three daughters, were all born in the east and emigrated with their parents. Of the sons, Julius married, Belinda Simmons, and first settled on the farm now owned by M. Andrews, in North Madison. Afterwards removed to the farm on Dock road which he occupied till his death about 1864, at the age of 74 years. His children were Eusebius, Imogene, Henry, Adeline, Mianda, and Alice. They are all living except Imogene, who was the wife of Col. S. W. Munn, but none are living in Madison except Adeline (Mrs. H. Witzman) and Mianda (Mrs. Arnold), who occupies the old homestead. With this daughter the widow of Julius lives, at an advanced age, with its infirmities upon her.

Phineas Mixer, Jr., succeeded his father in the South Ridge homestead, and married Miss Dorcas Woodworth in 1821. The next year he built the large house in which he still lives, with his son-in-law, Mr. W. C. Barnes, the present owner, aged 84 years. Mr. Mixer was one of the energetic men of his time, and has made his mark upon the age in which he actively lived. His life has been active and useful. From the earliest date of the settlement of the township his name appears among those administering its municipal affairs. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and is credited with assisting to harvest the first wheat ever grown in Madison. The children of Phineas Mixer, Jr., were, Albert K., who lives on the “John Noyes” farm, opposite the old homestead; Talcott, who lives in Minneapolis, Minn.; Emma Jane, (Mrs. W. C. Barnes), who occupies the old homestead; Phineas, Jr., 2nd, a citizen of Arkansas; Anna E., of Marietta, Ohio; Abigail F., of same place; Aretas, who was drowned at Ashtabula, in 1868, and Emily B., who resides at West Winsted, Conn.

Lois, daughter of Phineas Mixer, Sen., married William Cady, and settled south of the present village of Madison. Afterwards removed to the lake shore in Madison and settled on a part of the original “Mixer” purchase. Mr. Cady died some thirty years ago, and Mrs. Cady afterwards lived with her daughter, Mrs. Colby, now living in Pierpont, Ashtabula County, and died there about the year 1862 or 1863, aged 70 years.

Laura, daughter of Phineas Mixer, Sen., married Nathan Whipple, and first settled on the farm in North Madison now owned by the younger Mr. Corlett. They removed to Saybrook, Ohio, some twenty years ago, where Mr. Whipple died. The widow died at the residence of her son, Horatio Whipple, on the “Frisbie” place in Madison, 77 years of age.

The children of Nathan and Laura Whipple were, Horatio, a citizen of Madison, Miranda, who married William O. Brown, now a widow living in Rockford, Ill., Edward, who left the country and was never heard from after, Sarah, Mrs. Pliny Olds, living near Cleveland, and Laura, who married Danforth Young, in Saybrook.

Anna, the youngest daughter of Phineas Mixer, Sen., married Jesse McDonald, of Ashtabula, and lived in that town till her death, in 1855, aged 56 years. Their children were, Lyman, a resident of Springfield, Pa., Porter, who lives in Keokuk, Iowa, and Eliza, also of Springfield, Pennsylvania.

JOHN WOOD.

Considerable inquiry has failed to fix the date of the arrival of this pioneer in Madison, but it was probably in 1806 or 1807. He took up his first farm on the “Fourth Ridge,” south of Asa Turney’s, and when Mr. Turney came in 1809, Wood was occupying a log cabin in the woods nearly due south of where Mr. Selby now lives on the South Ridge. The same farm has lately been owned by one John Thomas. This farm was cleared up by Wood, but he sold it at an early day and moved south of Grand river where he took up a tract of wild land. He died on this farm. His children were, one son, killed some twenty years ago in Thompson, by a runaway team, in the night; a daughter, Betsey, who married Samuel Potter, Jr., a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, and killed at the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, Tenn.; Rebecca, who married Hiram Woodin and who died in Harpersfield, a few years since, and Louisa, the wife of Luther Town, who lived, when last heard from, in Pennsylvania. Betsey, the widow of Samuel Potter, Jr., is still living in South Madison on the farm on which her father last located and where he died. The location is familiarly known as the “hog’s back.”

(Continued next week.)

NOTE. - In chapter 1^st of the sketches an error occurred in the location and description of the streams in Madison township. That stream which goes winding through Madison village, rises in spring south of the South Ridge, on lands of F. Flint, them makes east to Madison village, south of the Ridge, crosses at the village and makes to the Middle Ridge - thence eastward to the south side and unites to form Cunningham Creek, at a point a little east of Old Arcole. The stream which empties into the lake near the north-west part of the township, is made by the springs out of the North Ridge road. Ed. Times.